Uganda President Stalling Reinstatement Of Anti-Gay Bill?

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and his party appear to be taking steps to frustrate efforts to revive the country;s Anti-Homosexuality Act, which was struck down on procedural grounds by the Constitutional Court on Aug 1.

Members of Museveni’s National Resistance Movement held a party meeting on Monday and then released a statement saying, “We accept the court’s ruling.” The statement appeared to signal that Uganda’s attorney general would drop an appeal of the ruling announced last week. Nicholas Opiyo, , told BuzzFeed he had confirmed that in conversations with some of the members of parliament who attended the meeting, but was not aware that the attorney general had taken any formal steps to abort the appeal process announced on Friday.

So has Museveni had a change of heart towards homosexuals? Not likely.

BuzzFeed continues:

The story begins, “President Yoweri Museveni has advised the National Resistance Movement (NRM) Parliamentary caucus not to rush the re-enactment of an anti-homosexuality law after its nullification by the Constitutional Court due to lack of quorum.”

According to anonymous sources in the meeting, the president complained that his advice on the law had been disregarded in the past, perhaps referring to his attempts to derail the law before he ultimately signed it in late February. The quotes attributed to Museveni in the article were typically cryptic, simultaneously seeming to try to appear that he supported the law but also that he would prefer the question went away because of the impact of pressure from international donors.

It sounds like Museveni's willingness to push the anti-gay bill to the side may ultimately come down to dollars. The international community should keep the pressure on to ensure that their message regarding financial aid is clear.